MONOLITHIC SILICON PHOTODETECTOR/AMPLIFIER IC FOR FIBER AND INTEGRATED OPTICS APPLICATION.

The primary design considerations, fabrication techniques, and measured performance bounds on a monolithic silicon photodetector/amplifier integrated circuit are presented. The IC was designed for utilization in short-to-medium-haul fiber-optic data links, performing signal processing and isolation functions at data rates up to 500 Mb/s. Consisting of a p-i-n photodiode integrated monolithically with a multistage amplifier/limiter circuit, the device was fabricated with the planar high-frequency bipolar transistors commonly used for emitter coupled logic circuits. Circuit features include dc coupling, wideband operation, and capability of driving 50 OMEGA at the output to 0. 5 V (peak-peak).